Milling machine



A July 18, 1933- L. F. NENNINGER MILLING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet l FiledJuly 14, 1950 gnm'nfot LE5 TEE E NENM/NGEB ly 933. 1., F. NENNINGER1,919,150

MILLING MACHINE Filed July 14, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 flu wanton LE5TEEF. NENN/NER Patented July 18, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE;

LESTER r. NENNINGER, or CINCINNATI, 01110, AssICNon'ro TII E CINCINNATIMILLING MACHINE COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, A COBPORATION.OF QHIOMILLING MACHINE Application filed m 14, 1930. Serial Nb. 467,695.

This invention relates to milling machines provide an improvedelevatinglnechanism for the knee support of a milling machine whereyadjustment.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a suitable housingfor the knee elevating screw of milling machine, whereby th screw willbe protected from dirt or chips in all positions of adjustment of theknee.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a completeautomatic independent lubricating system enclosed in the knee of themilling machine for lubricating the transmission and actuating members Icarried therein. Other objects and advanta es of the present inventionshould be readi y apparent by reference to'the following specificationconsidered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrative ofone embodiment thereof but it will be understood that any modificationsmay be made in the specific structural details hereinafter disclosedwithin the scope of the appended claims without departing from orexceeding the spirit of the invention. Referring to the drawings inwhich like reference numerals indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in sec tion of the knee of a millingmachine illu stra'ting one embodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a milling machine. 1 y

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3- 3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an expanded view of the transmissionto the elevating screw.

The reference numeral 10 indicates the base or pedestal of a knee andcolumn type milling machine having a vertical column 11 upon which isvertically, slidably mounted the knee 12 which carries the work supportorganization indicated generally by the ref erence numeral 1.3.

Means have been provided for mechanical-,

the knee will have a maximumlength of which the gears operated byhand orpower, and comprises an elevating screw 15 mounted in an upstandinghousing 13, which is firmly attached to the pedestal 10 as by bolts 14.The upper termi nal ofthe: housing is interiorly threaded forming a nut14 for the reception of the elevating screw 15. v I

Thescrew is provided atone end with a shoulder'16 and a reduced portion17 upon whichis keyed the beveled gear 18 for effecting rotation of thescrew. A locking nut 19 is threaded on the portion 17 to hold the gearin engagement with said shoulder. The gear 18 is provided intermediateits length with anti-friction bearings 20 and 21 which in turn supportthe knee on the screw. The gear is further provided with a tubulardepending portion or skirt 22 which has formed on its loweriextremitybeveled gear teeth23 which engage with the teeth 24: of the beveledlgear25 mounted on the end of the horizontal shaft 26. This shaftis' adaptedto be rotated through suitable power means, which in the presentinstance includes the vertical shaft 27, which may be driven from theprime mover in the column 11 of the 'machine through a suitable knowntransmission. A

pinion 28 journaled on a stud shaft in the knee receives power from thegear 29 splined on shaft 27 and-through a pair of beveled gears 30actuates the pinion 31. and reverse driver 32 and 33 are driven from thepinion 31 through intermediate gearss34r and 35 respectively, which inturn are constantly rotated by the gear 36 in meshwith the pinion 31-,one in aforward direction and the other in a reverse direction throughareverser. A clutch 37 is slidably mounted on the splined portion 38 ofthe shaft 26 upon 32 and 33 are mounted for free rotation and has clutchteeth uponits opposite faces for engagement with either the clutch teeth39 ofthe gear 32 or the clutch teeth 40 of the gear 33'. Thistransmission serves to'actuate the beveled gear 25, previouslymentioned, in either a forward or a A forward reverse directiondepending upon the position of the clutch 37 to causeupward or downwardmovement of the knee.

-ly raising or lowering the knee which may be In order to limit thedownward movement of the knee the member 13' is provided with a shoulder41 against which the circular boss 42 formed in the knee casting abuts.This stop prevents jamming of the feed screw 5 which might efiect theprecision of the machine. A bore 42 is formed in the knee adjacent theboss 42 and has fixed therein a tube 43 which extends vertically upwardand telescopes inside the skirt 22 of the gear '18, the tube moving upand down with the knee and forming a shroud around the elevating screwhousing thereby preventing oil or other lubricant, which flows down overthe gear 23, from being lost by conducting it back to the sump orreservoir. This tube also acts to prevent exposure of the elevatingscrew to dirt or chips when the knee is in a raised position.

' Attention is invited to the fact that thegear member 18 is attached tothe upper end of the elevating screw in close proximity to the saddleguideway and that its intermediate ortion, upon which the anti-frictionbearings are mounted,.extends downward and oncumscribes the threaded endof the housing 13 thereby permitting the threaded end of nut 14 to beplaced or positionedat the highest possible point resulting in a maximumeffective length of the elevating screw being so available'for raisingor lowering the knee withoutundue heightening of the knee structure. I

An independent automatic system for lubricating the elevating screw, aswell as the powertransmission therefor, has been provided in the knee.The lubricant is circulated by a pump 44 which maybe of the plunger typeand driven by an eccentric 45, formed on the gear 36. hus whenever thetransmission to the elevating screw is actuated the pump will besimultaneously actuated there? with. The pump 44 is provided with aninlet 46, for drawing oil from the sump 47 in the bottom of the knee,and with an outlet 48 which leads to a header 49 secured in the sidewall of the knee. A spray pipe 50 projects horizontally from the headerand has a plurality of holes formed therein for spraying the oil overthe gears of the transmission. The outer extremity of th is'pipe isthreaded into a bore 51 formed in a depending flange which surrounds theelevating screw. A vertical bore 52 communicating with bore 51 is formedin the flange through which oilrises when the pressure is sufiicient andflows over the top and down inside of the flange to lubricate theelevating screw and bevel gear 18. The falling lubricant is thencollected in the sump in the base of the knee from which it may be drawnup again by the pump for recirculation. Thus a'self-containedlubricating system has been provided in the knee casting itself forlubricating the parts therein which is automatically operated when theparts are power actuated.

That which is claimed is:

I 1. In a milling machine having a column and a knee slidably mountedthereon, elevating means for the knee including a screw and nut, one ofwhich is fixed to the machine, a tubular member telescoping said screwand having one end attached to the end of the screw, a power shaftjournaled in the knee at an angle to said screw with its axisintersecting the axis of the screw beyond the free '75 end of saidmember, means intermediate the ends of said member for supporting theknee, and means on said shaft operatively engaging the free end of saidmember for imparting rotation to the screw to thereby efi'ectrectilinear movement of the knee.

2. In a milling machine having a column and a knee reciprocably mountedthereon, means for effecting reciprocation of the knee including anelevating screw, a fixed tubular 85 housing having a nut formed in theend there- I of for receiving the screw, an actuating memher having oneend attached to the end of said screw for imparting rotation thereto,said member also having a skirt attached to the knee for effectingmovement thereof,. said skirt depending from the member to therebytelescope said nut'and permit movement of the knee to an extreme lowerposition.

3. Ina machine tool comprising a sup, orting frameand a pedestalprojecting t erefrom, a guideway formed on the frame and an adjustableknee mounted on the guide- Way, means for supporting and adjusting theknee including a tubular housing vertically projecting from saidpedestal and having a threaded bore in the end thereof, an elevatingscrew rotatably mounted in said bore and having one, end extendingsubstantially to the upper face'of the knee, means for attaching theknee to saidscrew for movement therewith including a connecting membersecured to the upper end of the screw and havin a depending skirt, saidskirt being adapted to telescope said nut upon movement of the knee toan extreme lower position.

4. An elevatin mechanism for the knee of a milling mac ine comprising atubular housin fixed to the machine, an elevating screw epending fromsaid knee and thread; ed in the end of said housing, said housing.adapted to project through an opening in the bottom wall of said knee toa position adjacent the opposite wall when the knee is in its lowermostposition, an actuating member attached to said screw and having a skirtdepending therefrom, a tubular sleeve attached to the'bottom wall of theknee adjacent the opening therein and telesco ing interiorly of thedepending skirt where y upon movement of the knee to an elevatedposition the screw will be protected from chips or dirt.

5. A milling machine having a column and a knee reciprocably mountedthereon, elevating means therefor, a power transmission train mounted inthe knee for actuating said elevating means, a lubricating systemselfcontained in the knee for lubricating said a transmission train, andmeans to conduct lu-c bricant from the pump to the screw andtransmission train whereby upon actuation of the transmission said screwand train will.

be automatically lubricated.

7. A milling machine having a knee, a transmission train therein foreffecting movement thereof, a lubricant sump formed in the bottomthereof, a circulating pump operatively connected to said transmission,having an inlet and an outlet, said inlet being connected to the sump,distributing pipes; I connected to the outlet whereby upon actu'a'-"tion of said transmission a lubricant will be circulated in a closedsystem in the knee to effect lubrication of the moving parts thereof.

8. A milling machine comprising a pedes tal, the bottom face of which isadapted to rest on a floor, a column uprising from the pedestal havingvertical guideways thereon, a Work support mounted on said guideways, anelevating screw housing vertically projecting from the pedestal andhaving'a nut formed in the upper end thereof, an elevating screw havinga reduced shank on one and forming a shoulder threaded in the nut, saidscrew being of sufiicient length to reach the floor when the shoulder isflush with the upper end of the nut, a driver for thescrew fixed on saidshank, means on the driver in circumseribing relation to the nut forsupporting the work support on the-lead screw and with the'top face ofthe work support lying substantial y in the plane of the upper end ofsaid driver, and means for actuating the driver whereby the work supportmay be elevated a distance substantially equal to the height, of its topsurface above the floor when t e work support is in its lowermostposition.

9. In a milling machine having a pedestal, a vertical column mounted onthe pedestal .a tubularuhou'sing projecting from the pedestal parallelto the column, a knee mounted onthecolumn havin an o ening in the bottomthereof for receiving sai housing, a knee elevating-screw threaded inthe housing and projecting beyond thetop-thereof-into engagement withthe knee, an actuator attached tosaid screw, operating means coupled tothe-actuatorfor effecting rotation-of the screw a lubricant sump formedin the bottomof the knee, means self-contained in the knee andoperableby the operating means for the screw to elevate'flubricant from the sumpto said. actuator and its operating means, a skirt depending from theactuator and a tube mounted inthe opening in the kneeand extendingupward in circumscribing relation to the housing and in telescop-' ingrelation with the skirt whereby lubricant flowing over the moving partswill be retained within the knee and returned to said sump.

LESTER F. NENNINGER.

